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ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — In the coming-of-age 1990s baseball film "The Sandlot," a then 12-year-old Englewood native named Wil Horneff played a bully.

But Horneff, now 37, said the experience of being a child actor got him bullied.

"Since I was always working I was kind of like the outsider at school and didn't have a core group of friends," the Waldwick trainer told Daily Voice. " 'The Sandlot' is actually everything I wish my childhood was."

Horneff now operates "
Training Grounds Jiu Jitsu & MMA
," a Westwood gym where he teaches children how to defend themselves from bullies through his jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and mixed-martial arts classes.

A childhood split between Hollywood film sets and the Saddle River School District stoked his passion.

"I want to give kids a confidence that I never had," Horneff said.

Horneff got into show business when he was six through connections at his mother's Westwood performing arts school.

He was cast as Phillips, the bully, in "The Sandlot" despite not being able to throw a baseball.

"I was supposed to be the pitcher in that scene where the two teams play each other," he said,"but they moved me to shortstop because I couldn't get the ball into the glove."

The film's success led to other roles but cost Horneff socially.

"I spent most of my time with adults," he said. "I was being integrated into a completely different world than most kids."